Some of you already knew but last week we finally had a family vacation! We had tickets to the Notre dame vs Nevada game. The hubs had a week off so we decided to do the drive and take our time,stopping at some big cities along the way that we usually don't get to see. First stop was Memphis. Had some authentic Memphis BBQ. Oh so good!! Then we stopped and showed the boys Graceland and signed the wall. Then it was off to sun city studios. Elvis,Johnny cash and Roy Orbison recorded there back in the day. Then walked over to Beale st and had a few drinks. We stayed in a days inn next to a casino so at night hubs and I tried our luck. Didn't win anything,big surprise there lol. Then on our way out we stopped by the Lorraine hotel where mlk was shot. And showed the boys that.
Next stop was St. Louis. We didn't do to much sight seeing but we did ride the tram up to the top of the gateway arch which is such a beautiful sight.
Next day we drove up to canton,Illinois and visited with my aunt,uncle and cousins. We love stopping there and it's always nice to visit with them. They live on a few acres and the boys love running around their backyard lol.
Most people don't know but my Oma who I talk about frequently called Peoria,Illinois home when she moved here from Austria. She was married to her first husband Otto who passed away when my father was 6. So on our way out we have to drive thru Peoria and I have never ever seen where he is buried. We get there and my father and aunt tell me there isn't a headstone. At the time Oma couldn't afford it. Umm that was in 1961! So needless to say I spoke with my aunt and next summer we have talked about having a family reunion and will see about getting some money together to do that for him.
On Tuesday we had tickets to a Chicago white six vs Detroit tigers game and my 2 older boys are huge tigers/White sox fans so we took them there. Neat ballpark and oldest got Omar narvaez to autograph a baseball for him. Afterwards we stopped by the navy pier and had the most amazing and life changing deep dish pizza I ever have had at giordanos!
The rest of the week we took it easy and took in all the sights notre dame college had to offer. Stopped by the goog and got to touch the heisman trophies. As we were in there the entire notre dame offensive line walked thru! We couldn't have timed that any better!! The boys even got to meet the entire varsity notre dame hockey team. We heard the trumpets under the dome. I lit a candle at the grotto and said my prayers. The boys and hubs threw a ball around the notre dame practice field. We took the tour and got to slap the play like a champion today sign. We watched the players do their walk out and even made the notre dame video on their fb page. All in all I'd say we had a pretty awesome vacation!
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